Maricopa County schools track outbreaks as reopenings continue

With more schools opening their doors and classrooms to students come more outbreaks of COVID-19. 

Arcadia High reported a COVID-19 outbreak on Monday. A letter shared with The Arizona Republic does not state how many students and staff members tested positive.

Chaparral High shared similar news of an outbreak among students and staff, with a reported seven new cases among students, according to another letter. 

Both schools are in the Scottsdale Unified School District, which opened its doors for in-person learning to high schoolers and middle schoolers on Monday. 

J.O Combs Unified, Peoria Unified and Paradise Valley Unified all reported new cases on Monday, as well.

It is likely bigger districts will continue to report cases amid the pandemic as more districts open. Some are reopening despite health recommendations advising schools to continue to limit the number of students allowed on campus. 

County health officials and school administrators say they are taking steps to ensure as few students and staff as possible contract the virus. 

So far, just a small fraction of Arizona's 1.1 million school students have reported testing positive. 

Maricopa County is reporting 21 COVID-19 outbreaks in county schools, with 77 total outbreak-associated cases: Of those cases, 51 are in students and 26 are in school staff members.

An outbreak means two or more individuals in close contact who don't live in the same household test positive in a 14-day period. 

The Republic has tracked at least 93 COVID-19 cases, some of which may not constitute an outbreak, reported in Arizona schools since mid-August. Most of the cases are in Maricopa County.

Marcy Flanagan, executive director at the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, said the department has tracked more outbreaks as more schools reopen for in-person classes. Still, the total number of outbreaks is "not a huge number," she said, especially when the threshold for what's considered an outbreak is two cases. 

"That's a pretty low threshold when you think about a school, to be considered an outbreak," she said. "It's important that people realize that." 

According to county data, 19 of 21 school outbreaks are still considered active. A school needs to go 28 days without a case for an outbreak to be deemed "closed." 

Outbreaks increase as schools open 

More districts are reopening for in-person school as the pandemic continues. Mesa Public Schools also started offering class five days a week on Monday, Deer Valley Unified since Sept. 24 has slowly allowed more students on-campus by grade, and Peoria Unified reopened in September.

Most districts continue to offer a remote learning option if families aren't comfortable sending their kids in person.

Districts must report outbreaks to families. Some are also reporting cases to parents and even posting case counts by school on public dashboards, even when there's not an instance of an outbreak.

Flanagan said parents should particularly look out for notes and messages notifying parents if their child was exposed to the virus, meaning they likely were in close contact with a person who tested positive.

"Parents will receive that notice and communication from their school, and it'll notify them if their child has been exposed to a case," she said. 

Exposure doesn't mean that a child is sick. But, it does mean parents and caregivers will need to keep their child home and monitor them for symptoms, Flanagan said.  

She added that her agency is recommending everyone six months and older receive a flu vaccine this year, to "err on the side of caution." 

Amy Bolton, a spokeswoman with the Scottsdale Unified School District, wrote in an email that the district is working to minimize the spread of COVID-19 on campuses by requiring face coverings, physically distancing students as much as possible, limiting visitors and cleaning regularly.

"The biggest contributor to our ability to remain open is the cooperation of parents, students and staff to follow the rules when it comes to wearing masks, monitoring for symptoms, reporting symptoms and staying home if illness is suspected," she wrote. 

Reopenings clash with health metrics

State officials developed COVID-19 metrics over the summer to help guide school reopening decisions. Ultimately, decisions come down to school district and charter school leaders.

If COVID-19 spread is considered minimal, health officials recommend schools to reopen fully in person. If the spread is moderate, officials recommend schools open in a hybrid capacity, where fewer than half of a school's students are on-campus at the same time. If the spread is substantial, school should be conducted virtually. 

Maricopa County Public Health breaks the data down by ZIP code and school district. Most districts are in the yellow, meaning spread is moderate. But more and more, schools are bucking the recommended hybrid option in favor of fully opening.

Mesa and Scottsdale are the most recent to fully reopen in person, despite data provided by the county.

Districts with more low-income students appear more cautious. Phoenix Union announced in September that it likely would not reopen for in-person school until 2021. Alhambra Elementary District in west Phoenix, too, has not yet reopened.

Flanagan said local school officials know their community best. If schools choose to return before data shows minimal spread, administrators can take steps to make school as safe as possible, like making classes smaller and grouping students together all day. 

"There's a lot of options that schools can really safely return, and it's going to be different for each one," she said. 

Reach the reporter at Lily.Altavena@ArizonaRepublic.com or follow her on Twitter @LilyAlta.

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